The US Department of Agriculture will release a pair of livestock inventory reports on Friday, February 21st at 2:00 PM central time. Both the monthly Cattle on Feed Report as well as the Monthly Cold Storage Report will be released on Friday after the markets are closed for the week.
According to Rich Nelson with Allendale, the Cattle on Feed Report will show January Placements off 4.3% lower than last year. Cattle feeders have been encouraged by the recent return to profitability driven by lower feed costs and higher cattle prices. Corn averaged $4.34 in Western Kansas in January ($4.34 in December, $7.35 in January 2013). Limitations on placements due to scarce feeder supplies will be the key issue for cattle feeders from here on out.
Allendale anticipates a Marketing total 4.2% lower than January 2013. There was no calendar day adjustment this month.
Total Cattle on Feed as of February 1 will be 5.3% smaller than last year- based on the numbers that have been calculated by Allendale.